The relief that no longer comes on its own

Marc leaves his job and starts a consulting activity. He is counting on the start-up contribution relief, which he has been told is automatic. It has not been since 1 January 2026: without a claim within sixty days, he will pay full contributions on 34 000 € of income. Before you read on: what exactly does that claim win him?

A claim, no longer an automatic grant

For a founder who is not a micro-entrepreneur, until 31 December 2025, no formality was required: the relief was obtained automatically on creating or taking over a business, on the single condition of not having benefited from it during the three preceding years.

That is no longer so. Since 1 January 2026, a claim must be made to the collection body within sixty days at most of the date the activity starts. The period applies to micro-entrepreneurs as to other founders.

The collection body rules within thirty days. Its silence counts as agreement: absent an answer, the relief is treated as granted. It is one of the rare cases where the lack of a decision benefits the applicant.

The past-benefit condition survives. The founder must not have benefited from the relief during the three preceding years, that period running from the date on which the benefit ceased for an earlier activity.

The self-employed person's scale

For a founder who is not a micro-entrepreneur, the relief follows the professional income, compared with the annual social security ceiling. Below 75 % of that ceiling, that is 36 045 €, the relief is set at 25 % of the contributions.

Between 75 % and 100 % of the ceiling, that is between 36 045 € and 48 060 €, the relief tapers. It falls as income rises, rather than vanishing abruptly at a threshold.

Beyond that, the logic stops: if professional income reaches or exceeds the annual ceiling, that is 48 060 €, the relief does not apply. A successful first year can therefore cost the whole of the aid.

The relief covers the contributions for sickness, maternity, family allowances, basic pension and invalidity-death. It covers neither the supplementary pension nor the general social contribution, which remain due in full.

• Income below 36 045 €: relief of 25 % of the sickness, maternity, family allowance, basic pension and invalidity-death contributions.
• Income between 36 045 € and 48 060 €: tapering relief, which falls as income moves towards the annual ceiling.
• Income at or above 48 060 €: no relief at all, whatever the date the business was created.
• Under the real regime, and only there: the supplementary pension and the general social contribution stay due in full.

The past-benefit check runs on the date the previous benefit ended, not on the date of the previous creation. A founder who stopped benefiting in March 2024 may claim again from March 2027, even though the earlier business dated from 2022.

The micro-entrepreneur: a reduced rate

The micro-entrepreneur follows a different logic: a turnover ceiling, beyond which the full rate resumes, replaces the scale. They benefit from a reduced contribution rate, equal to 75 % of the normal rate: the relief is therefore 25 %, applied directly to the rate of the contribution levy.

The duration is bounded differently too. That relief applies until the end of the third calendar quarter following the declared date the activity started: between nine and twelve months depending on the quarter of launch, so a start at the beginning of a quarter is worth more than one at its end.